Cobalt
by Imyoshi
Summary: That bastard took the fish with him.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Cobalt**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Occasionally, Team JNPR totally forget Nora's just borderline crazy.

Today was one of those times.

Dust class—the _last_ place anyone wanted to leave Nora unattended.

Especially since today of all days, Professor Port had to cover for their usual professor after a freak Dust explosion.

There were just too many wrong things to cover in that statement.

Working in their usual Grimm Studies class, all the students took vigilant steps into making sure no other freak Dust explosions occurred. Well, not all the students exactly. Actually, it was only just one. Nora—it was Nora.

While everyone took cautious steps and careful precautions at carrying their vials of Dust to their teammates, Nora happily skipped toward her own team with a vast amount of vials of Dust tucked within her slippery hands, humming a happy tune. Her team had been too busy reading the assignment instructions to notice her leave and go get the Dust vials. A error in their lack of common sense. One that would cost them dearly.

She stopped halfway from her skipping to stare at the far corner of the wall of Port's class, to observe the Grimm heads Professor Port had hung up. She always loved to do this, stop and look. It was one of her favorite past times, next to explosions and waking up Ren in the morning. Those thoughts made her smile even wider.

She loved waking up Ren in the morning.

Tilting her head, Nora noticed a new Grimm head that Port seemed to have added at the far off corner of his wall. Strange? It didn't look like a Grimm's head. Unlike the others, this head had no black fur on it, only withered bones and extremely large canines.

Her eyes widen as she looked at it, wondering slightly what type of Grimm it was. The Valkyrie had seen many Grimm in her life, but none ever like that.

Walking over to it, arms still full of a random assortment of Dust vials, Nora stopped in front of the skull, eyes shining. She really wanted to know what Grimm this was.

"Ah!" A voice startled her from behind, joyous and jolly like her own. She almost dropped her vials. "I see you found my newest addition to my collection, Miss Valkyrie. It's wonderful, isn't it?"

Looking over her shoulder, Nora noticed Professor Port behind her, happy and all. Hands tucked behind his back, Port moved beside her. There was a small twinkle in his eyes as his mustache moved to empathize his boisterous smile.

Nora grinned in return, leaning toward the skull now. "What is it, Professor Port? I've never seen this Grimm before?!"

"Ha-ha..." he laughed, touching the skull. "Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't a Grimm?"

"Really?" she paused, touching the skull as well.

"Really!" he answered, nodding. "It's an animal skull—an _extinct_ animal skull to be exact!" Port grabbed the plaque holding the skull, chuckling to himself. "My dear friend Professor Oobleck gave me this beautiful gem after finding it on one of his adventurous expeditions he likes to take."

"Do you know what animal it was?"

Port looked over to Nora whose eyes were filled with absolute wonder and excitement now. The old teach shook his head in amusement. To be so young and curious.

Placing back the plaque on the wall, he turned around to address a student who was raising their hand for assistance. He raised a finger to instruct the other student to wait for a moment. Port then turned back to a waiting Nora.

"Ah, yes, Professor Oobleck said the animal was an extinct family of big cat..." he began rubbing his chin in thought. "He told me the animal's name was called the saber-tooth cat. Hehe, looks more like a tiger to me, but alas, I didn't choose the name. Fierce hunters they were. Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Valkyrie, I have another student to aid."

Port walked away to help the desperate student, not paying any attention to the excited girl. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two was thinking that his brief description alone would satisfy Nora's curiosity. Mistake number three was leaving Nora Valkyrie alone.

Grinning to herself, she moved toward the extinct animal skull and plucked the plaque right off the wall with one free hand, the other holding her stockpile of Dust vials. She awed at the cracks in the skull and the deep dark sockets where the eyes use to be. This animal must've been top of the food chain when it was alive. Just look at those teeth! They could probably bite through steel!

"Nora!"

Nora looked over her shoulder to see Ren looking for her, checking under his desk to see if she was playing her game of surprise hide and seek again. The surprise—it was _always_ her turn to hide. Meanwhile, Pyrrha was trying to explain the Dust lesson to a confused Jaune. Though to be fair, it didn't look like she knew what she talking about either. It was like watching a sponge trying to absorb the knowledge through a rock.

Not wanting Ren to tire himself out, she ran over with the saber-tooth cat plaque still in her hand and the loads of Dust vials tucked in the other. She jumped expertly in front of her best friend, dropping the Dust vials on the desk near Jaune. The plaque, for the meantime, remained safely tucked underneath her arm.

"Here I am, Ren!" she saluted, smile innocent.

Ren decided to ignore how she carelessly dropped the Dust vials on the desk for the time being and instead promptly decided to ask her a rather interesting and totally needed question.

"Nora?"

"Yes, Ren?"

"What is that underneath your arm?" he pointed at the skull plaque, watching her already grow in excitement.

"Oh, this?" Nora held up the plaque to a nodding Ren. She bounced in place, shaking the thing in total delight. "It's our Professor's new skull. Except this time... it's an actual animal and not a Grimm! Isn't that amazing?! He called it a saber-tooth cat! Weird, huh? I think it looks more like a tiger! Roar! Roar!"

Ren fought the urge to sigh; he really did, and instead chose to close his eyes for a quick moment. He then opened them to respond, but their Fearless Leader beat him to punch.

"Nora..." Jaune cut in with Pyrrha behind him. He looked back to see Port still busy with many students. "Shouldn't... you know... put that back before Professor Port sees?"

"I agree." Pyrrha added. "It looks very old and I do not wish to see it break."

Nora waved them off, shaking the plaque extra-extra hard. "Aw, you guys worry too much. See!" she shook the plaque up and down even faster. "Nothing to worry—oops!"

The plague slipped out of Nora's fingers and flew straight into the air. Team JNPR, and a good portion of the students in the class, stopped to see the plaque spin in the air dramatically. All eyes focused on how it continued to spin in the air for a long time before finally falling back down due to gravity's cruel design.

For a room of trained Huntsmen-in-Training, their reflexes sucked.

Nobody even tried to lunge for the priceless artifact.

Finally, the plaque, skull down, landed right on top of the vials of random Dust in front of Jaune, crushing the skull and various Dust together. A blue smoke erupted from the small pile of bones and Dust, and all in front of Jaune. Nobody in the room moved for a whole minute, waiting for an explosion or something to happen. When nothing happened, Jaune finally breathed a breath of relief, wiping his forehead.

"Phew!" he grinned weakly, sweating a little as well. "And I thought something terrible was going to—!"

 _Boom_!

The thick cobalt smoke engulfed Jaune in a cloud of ash and the explosion was enough to shake the entire room. Chaos erupted in the room shortly after. Everyone screamed like if they had been blamed for cutting Yang Xiao Long's hair. The entire classroom was in a confusing panic as papers and screams filled the room as students rushed toward the door.

It was only moments later, after everyone had gotten out of the room, did Professor Port notice they were missing one student. They were missing the only unfortunate student that had been caught directly in the explosion's path, Jaune Arc.

By Monty Oum what a travesty!

Peeking his head through the door, various other students followed his example, including all of Team JNPR, and stared into the cobalt smoke filled room. Papers drifted in the air carelessly and there was a large amount of smoke centered on where Jaune had last been standing. The desk before him was practically gone, planks of wood of its former glory.

"Jaune!" Nora called out into the room, smiling sheepishly as well. "Sorry for accidentally blowing you up!" she paused, sticking her head into the room. "Are you still alive? If not, can I have your sweater?!"

"No..." he wheezed, which came out as a coughing breath from where the smoke was centered. "My sisters made me that sweater."

Stepping out of the bluish smoke, Jaune came out coughing. His eyes hurt and the smoke tasted horrible, like really, really dry dirt. Don't ask him how he knew the taste of dirt. His sisters dared him, alright! Meanwhile, the entire class stared in wonder at the Arc's somewhat sudden new appearance.

Out stepped Jaune in his torn up school uniform with a few noticeable differences. First, he had a pair of bluish cat ears on his head with a hint of his natural blondness mixed in. There were two black lines that came from behind his head that ended less than halfway to his cheeks. His eyes were even a darker shade of blue with a dark eyeliner shade of black resting underneath them. And finally upon closer look, Jaune had two large canines in his mouth. They're larger than any other teeth, looking ominously powerful.

He walked over to the door and cracked his neck along the way, completely unaware of the stares he was getting. He bluntly ignored the smoke and destruction behind him, figuring he got worst part of it anyways. Besides, there was _no way_ Nora was getting his sweater. He'd be damned if he allowed that to happen.

Walking out the door, the other students took a few steps back from Jaune, unsure how to feel. Even Professor Port didn't have anything to say, surprisingly. Jaune, however, did. He stopped right in front of his stunned teammates—more specially, Nora.

"Look what you did, Nora!" Jaune cried with a dark cloud forming over his head. He pointed at the destroyed room, fingers shaking. "I just know I'm going to get blamed for this."

All the students watched as Jaune fell to the floor on his knees and slam his fist repeatedly into the floor, muttering _why_ over and over again. He did have a point though. As team leader, he took full responsibility when it came to team projects. And Glynda Goodwitch was not going to be happy.

"Um, Jaune?" Pyrrha finally reached out, shaking their poor leader's shoulder.

"Not now, Pyrrha. I'm sulking."

"But... you really need to look at yourself."

Jaune lifted and tilted his head up. "What—?"

"We heard an explosion!" All the students and Prof. Port looked to see Ruby, her team, and the rest of their class running toward them with Glynda right behind them, her glasses fogged.

Oh, no!

Glynda glared hard at the students in the hallway and then back at the smoke filing out Port's classroom. Her frown only grew stronger each second, but then her eyes fell upon Jaune Arc on his knees and her eyes widened. "What happened?"

Apparently everybody _really_ wanted the answer to that question when all eyes turned to the fallen Arc.

Jaune noticed everyone was staring hard at him and he quickly got up, giving his best award winning smile. The leader even scratched his head for good measurement, laughing like it was all an elaborate joke.

"Well... you see... " Cue one long story of tale and wonder, plus the accident Nora caused. Of course Jaune didn't pin the blame on his bubble teammate. He could never do that. Ren so owed him. "And that's why the room blew up."

No one from his class bothered to correct Jaune on any part of the story, still stuck at his new appearance. Well, except Nora. She loved every second of that story.

Clearing her throat, Glynda pushed up her glasses, still fixated on Jaune's new ears. "Thank you for that... interesting story. However, that doesn't explain your sudden change in appearance, Mr. Arc."

Jaune took a step back, one brow raised. "Change in appearance?"

"Jaune?" Pyrrha whispered behind him, making said blond turn around. She subtly, _not so subtly_ , pinched her hands above her head. "Touch your head."

"... What?"

Feeling sorry for his team leader and figuring he probably should've stopped Nora from causing all of this, Ren grabbed Jaune's hand and placed it right onto his newest ears. Everyone watched as Jaune stopped to run his hand over his furry ear. He pinched it a few times then moved over to the next one, doing the same thing.

Eventually, both his hands found their way to his head.

Jaune kept checking them for a bit before the Arc finally ran to the nearest bathroom, he honestly didn't care what gender it was for, and looked straight into the mirror.

It wouldn't be until five minutes later that Pyrrha would go check up on him to only find Jaune passed out on the floor.

...

It's the smell of fish that pulled him out of his unconsciousness.

Lulled by the sudden sweet aroma, Jaune sat up quickly, the fish in front of it being pulled away by an amused Ozpin. It took him a moment to notice he's on an infirmary bed surrounded by Beacon's professors and his fellow teammates.

Ozpin sipped his always available coffee mug. "See, I told you that would work."

"What's going on here?" Jaune asked, though he was more focused on the fish in Ozpin's hand if anything. Suddenly, the fish didn't seem important as the earlier events of what transpired today rush back to his mind. "Actually... can somebody give me a mirror?"

Ren did, letting Jaune take in the sight reflecting back. The room's deathly silent until Jaune could finally speak, hard as that may be. His ears actually _droop_ in response as he put the mirror down, sighing for the love of Monty.

Why did things only happen to him?

"What happened?"

"The explosion happened..." Glynda answered, tilting her glasses up and rubbing her nook of her nose. "When the ancient bones of that saber-tooth cat mixed with all the various Dust... it created an interesting result."

"Result?"

"You became a Faunus!" Nora abruptly cheered before Ren could stop her, arms out. "It has something do with the chemicals in the skull and the mixing of the Dust and—but who cares! You became a Faunus! And a totally new one! Apparently, there's never been a saber-tooth Faunus before! Our Fearless Leader is one-of-a-kind!"

Jaune weakly smiled at her. Leave it to Nora to break the news in such a dramatic way. Although, it did make it easier to handle after the way she said it. However difficult that may be.

"I became a Faunus?" Jaune asked to no one in particular, only instead choosing to touch his new ears and lick his larger canines. "A Faunus... me? Really?"

"Ahem, yes." Ozpin murmured, sipping even more of his coffee. "And I know this must be an interesting... experience for you, Mr. Arc, but know we are here for you if you need to talk. But as of now, we have other duties to attend to." He smiled. "So I'll leave to the care of your teammates. Take care."

And the professors left Team JNPR alone in the room, but Jaune's only concern was one and one thing only.

That bastard took the fish with him.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha gently moved closer to Jaune, holding his shoulder in a supportive way. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, Jaune! Are you?!" Nora added. Ren merely shrugged his shoulders, content to letting Pyrrha and Nora do most of the talking.

Thinking of the question, their Fearless Leader picked up the mirror again and stared at his face, touching his cheek. "I don't know?" he touched his one ear. "I guess I could guess use to this?" He looked at his new canines and went for a grin. Jaune actually started to enjoy the look of his new teeth, sharp cheek lines, and powerful cobalt eyes. "It's actually not that bad."

"Yea!" Nora added, looping her fingers around her eyes. "And you probably got night vision like all the other Faunus do—but _yours_ is probably like a billion times better!"

Jaune smirked a little, and then it's gone when he recalled a little _spark_ of info. He turned back to lightly glare at Nora and smile accusingly at her.

"Don't think I forgot _who_ caused this, Nora." Being reminded, she pushed her fingers in response, unable to speak for the first time. "As leader..." he mocked. "It's only fair I decide your punishment."

Normally, Jaune wouldn't notice any subtle shifts in movement, but this time he did as Ren shifted a little toward Nora in a protective manner. His expression may remain the same, but Jaune could sense the protective layer of closeness he already surrounded her in.

What? It's not like he's going to physically harm her—only emotionally.

"As punishment, Nora..." paused Jaune, watching something akin to amusement in Pyrrha's eyes. "For one entire week, Ren, Pyrrha, and I are going to enjoy eating pancakes in front of you... and you're not allowed to have any. Leader's orders."

Many students around Beacon fearfully felt their legs shake with abounding terror.

...

After much pleading for a less harsh punishment, which Jaune did not give, Team JNPR headed out for lunch with a teary eyed Nora in tow. Jaune was famished after smelling that fish in Ozpin's hands. Damn bastard. And he couldn't wait to chow down on something at this point. It was like his hunger had sky rocketed after his transformation and he needed food to quell it.

Walking through the halls of Beacon, Jaune had his new Faunus ears proudly out, not caring for the whispers among the students. What did he care? He had no problem with the Faunus before and he was starting to like his heightened senses.

Now he could make fun of Ren for using too much orange scented shampoo!

Entering the Mess Hall, everyone became deathly quiet as Team JNPR strolled through. Jaune didn't seem to notice as he grabbed a plate of meats and some pancakes. Ren and Pyrrha followed suit with Nora staring at the delicious pancakes begging to be eaten by her. Her hand reflexively reached out toward the appetizing morsel, only for Ren to stop her by a simple grab of her wrist.

"No, Nora."

"But, Ren!" she pleaded only for Ren to shake his head and pull her away from temptation.

A few steps ahead of them, Jaune and Pyrrha already found Team RWBY. Taking their seats, Jaune quickly tore a fresh piece of cooked meat off his meal, grinning delightfully from the new flavor.

Food tasted better with heightened senses as well. Who knew?

"This is awesome!" Jaune grinned with everyone else around him still quiet. The whispers eventually started and some form of normalcy returned to the dining hall. "I can taste so many flavors now. It's like the world all makes sense now."

Ren and Nora arrived at the table moments later, both sporting a salad. Ren's idea to further broaden Nora's horizon of foods. She poked the salad with her fork, waiting for it to push back her fork like sweet fluffy pancakes would. But the salad never did. It! Never! Did!

"What is this?" Nora poked her fork in it again, pulling out a leaf.

"It's a salad, Nora." Ren answered, enjoying a bite of his meal.

Moving the food around, she picked a tomato from the corner. "When do I add syrup to it?"

"You don't."

"... I'm gonna die, Ren."

"You're not going to die, Nora." Strangely enough, Ren did not believe in his own words.

Hn, he'd have to bargain with Jaune later to lift Nora's punishment or at least lessen it. But he'd have to do it soon; he had a sneaking suspicion that Jaune was going to make fun of him for something.

"So... Jaune!" Ruby turned her head away from the depressed Nora's to stare at Jaune's new Faunus features. "I like your new ears. They're so blue!"

"I know!" he grinned, twitching his new ears to show off. "I can hear a lot better now. And they're so soft. Wanna feel?"

"Really?" Ruby didn't even bother waiting for a response as she appeared in a flash of rose petals beside Jaune. She lightly touched the blue and gold furred between her fingers and absolutely _cooed_ at their softness. "They are soft!"

Weiss rolled her eyes at their leader's antics and continued to silently observe the way Ruby folded under something even relatively adorable. Not like she thought his new ears were adorable. They weren't.

Yang, on the other hand, awed at Ruby's antics. She never wanted poor impressionable Ruby to grow up. She'd stay young forever!

"Aw, isn't that cute, Blake?" Yang asked, waiting for Blake's one or two worded reply. But it never came. "Blake?"

What Yang saw wasn't unusual at first, just Blake lost in another one of her books. Except, last time Yang checked, people didn't read books backwards. And Blake wasn't making it too hard to notice her eyes were slightly transfixed on the blond and bluish Faunus in front of her. Even her bow was twitching a lot more than usual.

Looking back and forth between Jaune and Blake, Yang's grinned turned mischievous as her inner trickster came out.

Resting her head in her palms, Yang lightly flicked Jaune with some of her corn to get his attention.

"So... you're like some big tough, almost extinct cat now? Right?" Yang asked sweetly, flicking even more corn now toward Ruby who pouted in response. But she ignored her cute baby sister for the moment.

"Yup, I'm one a kind."

"Really?" her eyes glistened. "One of a kind? That probably makes you all the more special now. Who knows how much stronger you are now or faster. I heard saber-tooth cats were the strongest of all the cats. They had some roar that scared all the animals."

"Yea, you might be right." Jaune wondered with his head tilted up. His mouth opened to reveal his new canines as he lightly licked the new teeth at the mere thought of his new strength.

If she hadn't been paying attention, Yang would've missed the slight _gasp_ and weak _hum_ come from Blake as she squirmed faintly in place. But she was paying attention, especially at how Blake seemed to be pressing her fingers down roughly into her book, stretching the cover.

How Yang loved her life.

Going for the kill, she leaned back, using a protesting Weiss as an armrest. She made sure to say this as close as possible to Blake, practically whispering it to her squirming partner.

"So... do you plan to repopulate?"

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 **Author Notes:** Edited **\- 1/30/2018**


End file.
